The average life expectancy on the island where Jacques Sebisaho grew up is 25 years. He built a health care system to change that.

Jacques Sebisaho grew up on the island of Idjwi, on Lake Kivu between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. While the remote island has largely been untouched by direct conflict in the region, Idjwi has one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world and a life expectancy of just 25 years.

A doctor by training, Sebisaho is building a health care system to change that. His organization, Amani Global Works, is pioneering a primary health care model that develops hospitals, clinics, and community-health outreach programs that save lives by bringing treatment to the people who need it most.

Since its founding in 2010, Amani has trained hundreds of community health care workers, and has established 12 satellite health clinics and one referral hospital. While the Congolese government spends $40 per person for primary care, Amani Global Works can provide primary health care for just $18 per person. Today, Amani Global Works is providing free health care for 300,000 people in Idjwi, with its scalable model poised to transform global health.

“In order to have an effective and sustainable health care system, all aspects of human health must be provided,” Sebisaho says. “We can use our holistic healthcare model as a bridge to economic and social progress, and scale it to the 100 million people in Congo and beyond.”